GNOME GDM up to 2.16 Gnome Display Manager improper authentication

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
7.0	$0-$5k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability identified as problematic has been detected in GNOME GDM up to 2.16. This affects an unknown part of the component Gnome Display Manager. Performing a manipulation results in improper authentication. This vulnerability is identified as CVE-2009-2697. There is not any exploit available. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in GNOME GDM up to 2.16. It has been classified as critical. This affects some unknown functionality of the component Gnome Display Manager. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a improper authentication vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-287. When an actor claims to have a given identity, the product does not prove or insufficiently proves that the claim is correct. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

The Red Hat build script for the GNOME Display Manager (GDM) before 2.16.0-56 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5 omits TCP Wrapper support, which might allow remote attackers to bypass intended access restrictions via XDMCP connections, a different vulnerability than CVE-2007-5079.

The weakness was released 09/04/2009 with Red Hat (Website). The advisory is shared at rhn.redhat.com. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2009-2697. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. No form of authentication is needed for exploitation. Neither technical details nor an exploit are publicly available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 43789 (CentOS 5 : gdm (CESA-2009:1364)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment. It is assigned to the family CentOS Local Security Checks. The commercial vulnerability scanner Qualys is able to test this issue with plugin 117027 (CentOS Security Update for GDM (CESA-2009:1364)).

Upgrading to version 2.5 eliminates this vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at X-Force (53021), Tenable (43789), SecurityFocus (BID 36219†) and Vulnerability Center (SBV-23374†). If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

Productinfo

Vendor

• GNOME

Name

• GDM

Version

• 0.7
• 1.0
• 2.0
• 2.2
• 2.3
• 2.4
• 2.5
• 2.6
• 2.8
• 2.13
• 2.14
• 2.15
• 2.16

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.gnome.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔍
• 🔍
• 🔍

CPE 2.2info

• 🔍
• 🔍
• 🔍

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 7.3
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 7.0

VulDB Base Score: 7.3
VulDB Temp Score: 7.0
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Improper authentication
CWE: CWE-287
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔍
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Nessus ID: 43789
Nessus Name: CentOS 5 : gdm (CESA-2009:1364)
Nessus File: 🔍
Nessus Risk: 🔍
Nessus Family: 🔍
Nessus Port: 🔍

OpenVAS ID: 880844
OpenVAS Name: CentOS Update for gdm CESA-2009:1364 centos5 i386
OpenVAS File: 🔍
OpenVAS Family: 🔍

Qualys ID: 🔍
Qualys Name: 🔍

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔍

Upgrade: GDM 2.5

Timelineinfo

08/05/2009 🔍
09/02/2009 +28 days 🔍
09/02/2009 +0 days 🔍
09/03/2009 +1 days 🔍
09/04/2009 +1 days 🔍
09/04/2009 +0 days 🔍
01/06/2010 +124 days 🔍
03/18/2015 +1897 days 🔍
03/30/2025 +3665 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: gnome.org

Advisory: rhn.redhat.com
Organization: Red Hat
Status: Confirmed
Confirmation: 🔍

CVE: CVE-2009-2697 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2009-2697
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-49821

OVAL: 🔍

X-Force: 53021
SecurityFocus: 36219 - Red Hat GNOME Display Manager Security Bypass Vulnerability
Vulnerability Center: 23374 - Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 GNOME Display Manager Remote Security Bypass Vulnerability, High

Entryinfo

Created: 03/18/2015 15:15
Updated: 03/30/2025 03:58
Changes: 03/18/2015 15:15 (61), 02/13/2017 12:34 (9), 08/21/2021 01:33 (4), 08/21/2021 01:41 (1), 03/30/2025 03:58 (18)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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Discussion

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